About Us

Retired CEO

Peter Bowe served as the CEO for the world’s leading manufacturer of portable dredgers for 35 years. In this role, at Maryland-based Ellicott Dredges, he helped the company open facilities in several countries and expand its sales into more than 50 countries. One of the company's projects was building all the dredges used in the original construction of the Panama Canal. He publishes the leading newsletter for the dredging industry. He and his wife created a foundation to support organizations in Chicago and Baltimore that expand economic opportunity for disadvantaged individuals through education, training and work.

Secretary

Mike Gill has devoted his career to developing and implementing business strategies related to information technology, wireless communications and other sectors. He has done so as a government employee, including when he led the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development from 2015 to 2019. He also has done so in the private sector, working with such companies as IBM and Ernst & Young. Among his many leadership roles are serving as chairman of Evergreen Advisors, CEO of AMERICOM and a treasurer of the Board of Regents for the University System of Maryland.

Partner

Kelly Hardy has more than 20 years of experience representing clients in cross-border transactional matters, including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, strategic alliances and other complex commercial contracting. She currently works around the world with corporate, commercial and regulatory entities from a variety of sectors, such as manufacturing, life sciences and education. In addition to serving on the WTCI board, she is on the boards SEED School of Maryland and Appleseed Mexico.

Founder & CEO

Todd Ruppert is a serial early-stage private company investor and board member globally in various industries – education, financial services, disruptive technologies, publishing, arts and entertainment and strategy consulting. He is also an advisor to a number of private equity and venture capital firms. He previously was a venture partner at Greenspring Associates, president & CEO of T. Rowe Price Global Investment Services, co-president of T. Rowe Price International and member of the operating steering committee of the T. Rowe Price Group. He is president of London’s Royal Parks Foundation and board member of The Fine Art Group, Shetland Space Centre, INSEAD Business School and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

COO

Vice President Finance & Business Operations, Blue Planet Software, a Division of Ciena Corporation 
 

Elizabeth (Beth) Dolce currently leads the financial planning, commercial management, and business operations teams of Ciena Corporation’s Blue Planet Software division and is a member of Blue Planet’s senior leadership team.  In this role, she is responsible for all planning activities, negotiation and pricing of customer contracts, and divisional financial reporting and controls. She also leads a team responsible for designing and supporting a variety of operational processes to support sales, product management, and the services delivery teams- and has advised in the structure and strategy of this division, including the acquisition and integration of three businesses, since its inception in 2015.  

 Beth joined Ciena Corporation in July 2010 as the Vice President and Treasurer prior to moving to the Blue Planet Division.  As Treasurer, she has global oversight and responsibility for the Company’s debt, cash, investments, banking and liquidity, where she led several capital markets transactions and arranged the company’s first bank and term loan credit facilities.  Ms. Dolce also managed the Company’s risk management programs, including foreign exchange, insurance and enterprise risk and served on Ciena’s Corporate Compliance and various Pension and Investment Committees.   

Prior to joining Ciena, Ms. Dolce was the Assistant Treasurer and Risk Manager at The Black and Decker Corporation in Towson, Maryland.  She has over 20 years of experience in corporate finance, having held positions in treasury and capital markets, investor relations, business development and corporate banking at companies such as Cablevision Systems in Bethpage, New York, General Motors’ Treasurer’s Office in New York City, and Bank of America in New York City. 

Ms. Dolce holds a M.B.A. from The University of Michigan Ross School of Business and a B.S. in Economics from the University of Delaware.  She is a graduate of the Leadership Baltimore Country program and served on the board of directors of the non-profit New Pathways, Inc.  She is currently engaged as Ciena’s executive sponsor with the Building STEPS organization.  She lives with her husband and two children in Forest Hill, Maryland and enjoys spending time traveling, hiking, and kayaking.   

Senior Vice President of Global Human Resources

Kewin Gales is responsible for developing and implementing human capital and talent management strategies that enable Prometric to recruit, develop and retain highly skilled and engaged employees for all corporate functions. His team develops and maintains corporate policies and practices, designs and delivers corporate learning and development programs, and cultivates a corporate culture and work environment that promotes, safety, opportunity and respect for all employees. Kewin has more than three decades of experience in human resources management and remains engaged in industry associations and events. He holds a juris doctorate degree from the James E. Beasley School of Law at Temple University and a bachelor’s degree in human resource management from Indiana University in Bloomington.

Managing Director

Jerry Garland joined TESSCO Technologies in 1993 and currently is responsible for solutions development and product management, sales and market development, pricing, proprietary products, global sourcing and technical support for the company’s $350 million wireless communications business. His division is responsible for over 20,000 products and solutions, 25,000 quarterly buyers and more than 250 manufacturing partner relationships. Prior to joining TESSCO, Jerry worked for 12 years in the banking industry, serving as senior vice president of the Secured Commercial Lending Division for Bank of America (formerly NationsBank and Maryland National Bank), group head for middle market lending, vice president for MNC Investment Bank and senior credit officer of commercial lending. Prior to that, he was financial manager for Black & Decker’s Industrial Construction Division and plant controller of the company’s largest manufacturing facility. He serves on the External Relations Advisory Board of Kennedy Krieger Institute and as an Advisory Board Member for SOZO Children.

President of Hand Tools, Accessories and Storage  

Tabata Gomez has worked at Stanley, Black and Decker since 2017. Before moving into her current role in early 2022, she served as a chief marketing officer for two years and a vice president of marketing for two years. She has a wide range of international business knowledge and experience, particularly related to the Americas, Europe and Asia. She has been recognized for her ability to guide organizations through change while considering competitive pressures, market expansion and evolving landscapes. 

VP Global Government Affairs

James Hayes has expertise in leveraging the intersection of business, policy and public relations in order to elevate business performance, issue awareness and brand visibility. He has public and private sector experience managing staff teams and cross-functional collaborations in evolving political climates. In addition to serving on the WTCI board, he is on the boards of the Information Technology Industry Council and Maryland Chamber of Commerce.

Vice President

Bayard Hogans’ career with Ports America Chesapeake spans more than 20 years in transportation, maritime and supply chain logistics. Previously, he was the general manager at Seagirt Marine Terminal, one of the most productive terminals in North America. Ports America has been internationally recognized as a leader in safety, customer service and efficiency. Bayard supports many organizations, charities and events within the port community, guiding the port towards its mission of aiding and supporting the Port of Baltimore community. He is a native of Maryland’s Eastern Shore.

Director of International Strategy & Business Development

Heather Kiriakou has been in her current role since May 2021. Prior to that, Heather led MS International Strategic Development for the company. From 2016-19, she served as the director of global business development in the Northrop Grumman Corporate office, leading the company’s assessment of geopolitical, economic and industry trends to inform C-suite decisions on the company’s future positioning. She also has worked in Northrop Grumman’s Aerospace Systems in a strategy, government relations and business development role. Prior to Northrop Grumman, Heather worked for 15 years in the United States intelligence community. She was the lead author of the country’s first National Strategy to Combat Terrorist Travel and completed a legislative affairs fellowship in the U.S. Senate, in which she focused on Middle East policy issues. Heather served as a visiting fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.

Chief of Staff and Project Manager

Alico Lao has more than 20 years of experience in international business operations related to international expansion/contraction, mergers and acquisitions and human resources integration. Prior to joining the company in 2003, she managed international assignments in eight countries for Sapient Corporation, was a human resources specialist for Arthur D. Little, Inc. and was a personnel management specialist for the United States Department of Health and Human Services.

CEO

Dr. Leslie Mancuso has more than 25 years of experience in developing public and private partnerships with various organizations, such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Chevron, ExxonMobil, GE Foundation, GlaxoSmithKline, Laerdal Medical and Merck. She is a recognized international business leader specializing in bringing accountability to and navigating changes in the international nonprofit sector. In addition to serving on the WTCI board, she serves on the boards of US-ASEAN Business Council, Inc., where she is acting Chair of the Health and Life Science Working Group, and Life Science Innovation Forum of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Organization.

Vice President, Global Strategic Procurement

Brant Matthews is responsible for creating and directing worldwide procurement strategies and programs for raw materials, packaging materials, ingredients, commodities, services and non-inventory items. His global team is responsible for the development and application of procurement strategy, standardization of sourcing processes and systems, establishment and sharing of best practices and global procurement talent management. Before joining McCormick, Brant was source strategy lead for Johnson & Johnson, where he was responsible for creating, aligning and deploying functional strategy in conjunction with the company’s supply chain transformation. His 22-year career with the company included positions in manufacturing, quality assurance, external manufacturing and procurement at various operating companies in the United States, Belgium and Switzerland.

President

Bruce McIndoe is a recognized leader in risk management, technology and intelligence. Prior to his current role, he was one of the founders of WorldAware and was a key contributor to the company’s strategic growth. He helped secure the company’s position as a leader in global intelligence and business resiliency with the development of the Worldcue Global Control Center. In addition to serving on the WTCI board, he serves on the risk committee for the Global Business Travel Association.

Partner

Lindsay Meyer has significant experience in all aspects of trade and customs. She assists domestic and multinational clients to efficiently import and export goods under United States laws and regulations. She has extensive knowledge of the regulations enforced by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. This knowledge, along with a network of counsel around the world, allows her to develop innovative solutions to complex domestic and international legal problems. In addition to serving on the WTCI board, she serves as president of the Venable Foundation.

International CEO

Erika Nolan has more than 20 years of experience in the financial publishing industry and has supported over 50 business units in the United States, Japan, Argentina, Ireland, Germany and the United Kingdom. She served as the CEO of the 1291 Group of the Americas, a global firm specializing in tailored asset protection and tax/estate planning solutions, for almost three years. She is the co-author of The Offshore Advantage – The Beginner’s Guide to Going Offshore (McGraw-Hill 2009) and The Insured Portfolio (Wiley 2010). In addition to serving on the WTCI board, she serves as a member of the board of advisors for WHVP Ltd.

Chancellor

Jay Perman is committed to advancing higher education affordability for all students in Maryland and ensuring that every person in Maryland can access a college education. Prior to his appointment, he served as president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore. In this role, he strengthened the university’s relationship with the City of Baltimore through economic development and programs to improve health and well-being. He established the Office of Community Engagement to coordinate outreach projects and leverage resources in order to respond effectively to community needs.

Maryland Department of Transportation

Chief Brand Officer

Marc Pritchard believes in the power of brands to serve people with the best performing products, while also being a force for good through ethics and responsibility, community impact, diversity and inclusion, gender equality and environmental sustainability. He has more than 20 years of experience in the Beauty and Personal Care categories. As chief brand officer, he is responsible for brand building disciplines worldwide, including marketing and advertising strategies, leading marketing innovations and brand building for an extensive portfolio of clients.

Senior Vice President, Customer Success and Vendor Management

Tammy Ridgley has more than 20 years of experience working in the constantly changing wireless technology industry. She works closely with the best global suppliers in the world to build strong partnerships, go-to market strategies, solutions and services to the commercial market. Prior to assuming her current position, she held several leadership positions in sales, program management and product management.

Senior Vice President of Sales

For more than 15 years, Liz Robinson has served in executive level roles in sales, business development, product management and marketing in the distribution sector of the wireless industry. She has served on and lead non profit committees and board. She is a longstanding speaker at trade and industry events, and also conducts training and mentorship programs. She was educated at St. Catherine's School in Richmond, Virginia and Washington and Lee University.

Under Armour

Tchernavia Rocker has been chief administrative officer at Under Armour since June 2020. Prior to that, she served as chief people and culture officer from February 2019 to May 2020. Prior to joining the company, she served more than 18 years in human resources leadership roles at Harley-Davidson, Inc., most recently as vice president and chief human resources officer from June 2016 through January 2019, as general manager of human resources from January 2012 through May 2016 and in various other human resources leadership positions since joining the company in 2000. She also served in various human resources and operations roles at Goodyear, Dunlop and North America Tire Inc.

Vice President of the Cyber & Intelligence

Latisha (Tish) Rourke is the Vice President of the Cyber & Intelligence (C&l) market segment within the Lockheed Martin Rotary and Missions Systems (RMS) business area. In this capacity, she is responsible for a $600M portfolio of programs delivering a wide array of capabilities in support of national security requirements to the Intelligence Community, Department of Defense, and other government customers. Ms. Rourke also serves as the general manager for the three Hanover, Maryland business campuses that are the primary performance locations for the programs in support of the C&l organization. Throughout Ms. Rourke's 30+ years with Lockheed Martin, she has held many leadership roles of increasing responsibility, including those overseeing engineering, program management and business development for the Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW), Mine Warfare (MIW), Torpedo/Sonar, Electronic Warfare (EW) and Radar Sensor Systems (RSS) businesses. In her most recent roles, Ms. Rourke served as the Director of the Maritime Cyber and Electronic Warfare (MCEW) Programs, supporting both the Surface and Subsurface Navies; and as the director of Radar Sensor Systems (RSS) business development, where she was responsible for multi-billion dollar domestic and international growth efforts. Throughout her assignments Ms. Rourke has led teams in Syracuse and Owego, NY, Palm Beach, Florida and Marion, MA. Ms. Rourke holds a BS and MS in Electrical Engineering from Syracuse University. In 2020, she completed the Lockheed Martin Executive Online Program with Columbia University and Berkeley University. Currently, Ms. Rourke lives in Fayetteville, N.Y., with her husband, Tom, their son, Conlan and their two chocolate labs.

CEO and Executive Vice President

Annie Sennet has more than 25 years of experience in the space and defense industry, mostly at Saft. In her current role, she influences Saft's space, defense, high performance racing and commercial marine industries in the United States and Europe.

Senior Managing Director

Over his 28-year career, Peter Stanford has developed deep expertise with Occupier clients by leading Global Occupier Services teams delivering transaction and portfolio advisory services for clients across Europe, Middle East, Asia Pacific and and Latin and South America. He also has experience as a managing principal and director of asset services in the Baltimore region. He is a graduate of the United States Naval Academy and earned a masters in business administration degree from The George Washington University.

Owner

Joe Thomson has devoted his career and lifelong passion for horses to building one of the leading standardbred breeder businesses in North America. He and his wife founded Winbak Farm in 1991 and have since then produced two Meadowlands Pace Winners, three Little Brown Jug Winners, two Hambletonian Winners, three Horse of the Year Winners and graduates who have won over 38,000 times and earned over $360 Million. As a professional, he has had a long-standing career in the financial field. In 2009, he was elected to the Insured Retirement Institute Hall of Fame for his contributions to the annuity and financial services industry.

Senior Vice President, Chief Customer Officer

Steve Tom works towards optimizing student experiences, developing differentiated learning offerings and solutions, building strategic employer partnerships, and harvesting data and analytics to further drive value-added insights across all the company’s institutions. He oversees information technology, including application development, infrastructure operations and enterprise architecture. In addition to serving on the WTCI board, he serves on the International Youth Foundation Board of Directors.

Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services

National Business and Professional Services Leader

Dan Whelan has more than 30 years of experience advising globally- active companies in risk and financial management. He is also a risk advisory services partner with RSM and a member of their national risk consulting practice. He has extensive experience in delivering Sarbanes-Oxley consulting services for public companies, risk-based assessments of key controls, optimization and on-going quarterly testing and sustainability. He has also piloted an international Sarbanes-Oxley engagement for a $2 billion optical network solutions company with locations in over 50 countries around the world.

SVP, Device Business Unit

Doug White has more than 20 years of extensive experience in operations, portfolio and product management, sales and marketing, and consumer and scientific support. He is responsible for sales management, marketing and consumer relations, global product management, strategic marketing and research and development for the company’s medical device business. He has held several executive leadership positions at multi-national companies.

President, Academic Affairs

Charles Wiener oversees international enterprises and develops sustainable, innovative collaborations that raise the standard of global healthcare. He previously served as vice president of academic affairs and vice president of Asia operations, leading multiple global projects, such as strategic planning, oversight of educational infrastructure planning and medical training.

Executive Director

William Doyle was appointed by Maryland Governor Larry Hogan as the executive director of the Maryland Port Administration in 2020. He oversees and manages the Helen Delich Bentley Port of Baltimore’s six state-owned, public marine terminals. The marine terminals handle autos, breakbulk, containers, cruise, farm and construction equipment and forest products. The Port of Baltimore is one of the busiest seaports in the United States.

Previously, Bill was the CEO and executive director for the Dredging Contractors of America, a non-profit trade association that represents the interests of the U.S. dredging and marine construction industry. He developed the organization’s first formal continuing strategic plan and crafted legislative initiatives in conjunction with the White House and Congress that resulted in securing more than $2 billion for harbor maintenance dredging, deepening, widening, coastal restoration and beach nourishment for the association’s membership.

He served for five years as a Federal Maritime Commissioner. He was nominated and then re-nominated by President Barack Obama and he also served under President Donald Trump. He also has served as chief of staff for the Marine Engineers Beneficial Association and a director of the Office of the Federal Coordinator for Alaska Natural Gas Transportation Projects.

CEO

Ricky Smith has led management and operations for the Baltimore Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport for six he was appointed to that role by Governor Larry Hogan in 2015. A 29-year veteran of the transportation industry, Ricky has restored BWI as the busiest airport in the region and one of the Top 10 National Airports for Customer Experience. He established a culture of performance, safety and innovation at the airport.

He also has created a community centered around the airport. In 2015, Ricky established the BWI Marshall Youth Initiative to introduce Baltimore City youths to careers in aviation and transportation. In 2017, the LaunchPad program was started to uplift minority-owned micro-businesses by creating opportunities to participate in the thriving BWI food and retail scene. Outside the airport, he served as chair of the Mayor’s Commission on African American Males and president of Black Professional Men, Inc.

World Trade Center Institute

Deborah (Deb) Kielty is a global business leader and strategic advisor with operational and strategic leadership experience in the private and non-profit sectors. She became the WTCI president and executive director in 2001 and served in that role until 2019. In 2022, she was named WTCI’s first president emeritus. Prior to joining WTCI, Deb climbed the brand management ranks at Procter & Gamble over a 20-year period, culminating as vice president of global alliances and licensing. Deb is the board chair of the P&G Alumni Foundation and serves on the board of advisors for Jhpiego and Baltimore Outreach Services. he holds a master’s degree in international management from the Thunderbird School of Global Management.

Chairman

Henry A. Rosenberg, Jr. is chair emeritus of the Board of Rosemore, Inc., and had served as chairman and co-chairman since 1999. He was previously chairman, president, and CEO of Rosemore’s subsidiary, Crown Central Petroleum, for nearly 40 years.

In addition to his business ventures, Henry is well known for his involvement in local non-profit and philanthropic communities. He has served in leadership positions on the boards of numerous local and national organizations, including the Boy Scouts of America, the National Aquarium in Baltimore, Johns Hopkins Health System, the McDonogh School, Hobart College, Goucher College, the Kennedy Krieger Institute, the United Way of Maryland and the Pride of Baltimore.